


Winter Soldier

by jamzxc



Series: The Avengers Initiative [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 07:36:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17824595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jamzxc/pseuds/jamzxc
Summary: Winter soldier and more startling discovery about your past.





	1. Winter Soldier (part 1)

You jogged beside Steve, your pace matching his. Looking to the side, you watched the beautiful sunrise, the purple and pink hues making you feel a sense of relief after defeating Loki’s army.

Ever since then, you decided to try find out more about yourself, you couldn’t remember much of your past so you decided to ask Director Fury to help you get your blood tested to at least find out some basic information. You managed to find out the date you were born and your first name but the information was limited, you also found out that your entire bone structure was made from a very strong alloy.

Y/N, born on 20th April 1886, 128 years old. God, after hearing that you felt like a freaking fossil.

In the meantime, you decided to help Steve adjust to the society now, teaching him the use of technologies and other things.

Steve nudged you, pulling you away from your reverie. “What’s wrong?”

Waving your hand, dismissing the question, you looked forward and saw a stranger running in front of both of you. Giving Steve a smirk, you nodded to the guy and he gave a smirk of his own and nodded back.

Both of you jogging either side of the man, Steve spoke, “On your left.” Making the man glance at him before you ran past him on the other side saying, “On your right.”

“Uh huh, on both sides. Got it,” he replied as both of you sped off, well actually jogged off but apparently to some people your version of ‘jogging’ isn’t jogging at all.

The two of you made one more lap around, happening to see the same guy again. As both of you neared him, he looked at both of you. “Don’t say it! Don’t either one of you say it!”

“To your left.”

“To your right.”

“Come on!” He shouted after both of you as you heard his pace getting faster as he tried to catch up, but after a while you heard his footsteps slowing down as his breathing got heavier.

As both of you finished up the run, you two headed to a grass patch where you saw the man sitting and leaning against a tree, trying to catch his breath.

“Need a medic?” You asked as a smile came on your face.

He laughed before looking at both of you. “I need a new set of lungs. Dude, both of you just ran like thirteen miles in thirty minutes.”

“Well, not my best,” you shrugged.

Steve agreed with your sentence as he glanced to the side. “I guess we got a late start.”

“Oh, really? You both should be ashamed of yourselves. You should take another lap,” he pointed in front of him as you raised your brow in amusement. He looked to both of you again. “Did you two just take it? I assumed y’all just took it.”

Steve gave a smile. “What unit are you in?”

“Fifty-eighth, para-rescue. But now I’m working down at the VA,” He replied before reaching his hand out for Steve to take. “Sam Wilson.”

“Steve Rogers,” Cap introduced as he grabbed Sam’s hand and pulled him up.

“I kind of put that together. Must have freaked you out coming home after the whole defrosting thing,” Sam said as he placed his hands on his knees groaning a bit from the ache of running too fast.

“It takes some time getting used to, but I have help,” Steve glanced at you and you smiled, putting your hand out for Sam to shake.

“Hi, I’m Y/N.”

He returned the smile and shook your hand as well.

“Well, it’s good to meet you, Sam,” you said as you and Steve turned to leave.

“Your bed, right?” Sam called out, making you and Steve turn back.

“What’s that?” Steve asked.

“Your bed, it’s too soft,” Sam replied. “When I was over there I sleep on the ground and used rocks for pillows, like a caveman. Now I’m home, lying in my bed and it’s like…”

“Lying on a marshmallow. I feel like I’m gonna sink right to the floor,” Steve continued, the two men sharing a smile and you crossed your arms over your chest, watching the two of them interact. “How long?”

“Two tours,” Sam answered as Cap nodded. “Must’ve missed the good old days, huh?”

“Well,” Steve let out a huff, looking to the side with a smile. “Things aren’t so bad. Food’s a lot better, we used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful. I’ve been reading that a lot trying to catch up.”

You chuckled slightly and Sam looked to Steve and gestured a hand. “Marvin Gaye, 1972, ‘Trouble Man’ soundtrack. Everything you’ve missed jammed into one album.”

“I’ll put it on the list,” Cap said as you watched him nod and pull out a small notebook to write down what Sam just introduced. It was a notebook with a list of some of the things you told him to check out, such as Steve Jobs, Pisco, Thai food, Nirvana and even Rocky.

Suddenly Steve’s phone buzzed, he pulled it up and read the message before handing you the phone. You saw that it was from Nat. “Mission alert. Extraction imminent. Meet at curb. Bring Y/N along. :)”

“Alright, Sam, duty calls,” Steve put his hand out for Sam to shake.

“Thanks for the run,” you put your hand out as well. “If that’s what you wanna call running.”

“Oh, that’s how it is?” Sam replied in a joking tone as he shook your hand.

“Oh, that’s how it is.” You gave a wink as he laughed.

“Anytime you want to stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk. Just let me know,” Sam told both of you as y’all started to walk away. You and Steve glanced at each other before nodding, a smirk on both your faces.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Steve joked back.

Before any of you could say anything else, the sound of a revving engine caught your attention. You turn to the side of the road to see Natasha rolling down the window. “Hey fellas. Any one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I’m here to pick up some fossils.”

“That’s hilarious,” you spoke as you rolled your eyes slightly. Nat gave you a smirk as she pushed the passenger seat down so you could sit behind before moving the seat back upright so Steve could sit.

“How you doin’?” Sam asked Nat.

“Hey,” Nat greeted as you placed your arms on the side of the front two seats, looking out the window at Sam.

“You can’t run everywhere,” Cap said and Sam nodded back. You and Nat gave him a smile as the windows slowly rolled up.

“No, you can’t.” Sam mumbled as he watched the car drive off.

~

You, Steve and Nat stood in front of a screen onboard of a jet with other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as Agent Brock Rumlow explained the situation.

“The target is a mobile satellite launch platform: The Lemurian Star. It was sending up their last payload when the pirates took them, ninety-three minutes ago.” Rumlow tapped on the screen showing all of you the different information.

“Any demands?” Cap asked.

“A billion and a half,” Rumlow replied.

“Why so steep?” You questioned, your arms crossed as you stared at the screen.

“Because it’s S.H.I.E.L.D.’s.” Rumlow looked at you with a look that made you want to glare at him but you just looked away. You never really liked the guy, he gave off a very bad feeling.

Clearing your throat slightly to get rid of the thought, you turned to look at Steve and Nat. “So, it’s not off course, it’s trespass.”

Nat held one hand to her chin as if thinking. “I’m sure they have a good reason.”

“You know, I’m getting a little tired of being Fury’s janitor,” Cap said, looking at the redhead.

“Relax, it’s not that complicated,” she replied, trying to placate him.

“How many pirates?” Cap turned to Rumlow.

“Twenty-five, top mercs, led by this guy. Georges Batroc,” Rumlow said, tapping the screen to show some information on the guy. “Ex-TGSE, Action division. He’s at the top of Interpol’s ‘red notice’. Before the French demobilized him, he had thirty-six kill missions. This guy’s got a rep for maximum casualties.”

“Hostages?” You questioned, scanning the screen, remembering Georges’ face.

“Uh, mostly techs, one officer, Jasper Sitwell,” the agent pulls up a photo of Sitwell on the monitor. “They’re in the gallery.”

“What’s Sitwell doing on a launch ship,” Steve muttered to himself before giving instructions. “Alright, I’m gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, Y/N, you two kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to life pods, get ‘em out. Let’s go.”

“STRIKE, you heard the Captain. Gear up,” Rumlow spoke as he turned away.

You went to go get ready as well, putting on your gloves, making sure you were prepared.

“Secure channel seven,” Cap commanded.

“Seven secure,” Nat replied, getting her weapons ready. “You do anything fun Saturday night?”

That question made you glance up and look at them.

“Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so, no, not really.” Steve put on his comm, as he looked at Widow.

“Coming up by the drop zone, Cap,” Rumlow called out. Steve hit a button causing the back of the jet to open.

“Y’know, if you ask Kristen out, from Statistic, She’ll probably say yes,” Nat commented.

You watch Steve put on his head gear as he answered. “That’s why I don’t ask.”

“Too shy or too scared?” Nat semi shouted over the loud sound the wind was making.

“Too busy,” Cap said before jumping out of the jet.

~

You watch Cap swiftly take down all the soldiers as you glide down with a parachute, drawing your gun as you saw a soldier shouting at Steve as he pointed the gun at him. You shot the man in the back as you landed, keeping the gun at the strap on the side of your thigh and removing the parachute.

“Thanks.” Cap turned to look at you with a small smile.

“Yeah, you seemed pretty helpless without me,” you replied with a smirk as Nat and the other agents joined all of you.

You, Nat and Steve started walking off when Nat continued her conversation from earlier on the jet. “What about the nurse that lives across the hall from you? She seems kind of nice.”

“Secure the engine room, then find me a date,” Steve said as you grabbed Nat’s arm and pulled her along before you grabbed the railing on the side and jumping over.

“I’m multitasking,” she answered before following behind you.

As you two started heading to the engine room, Nat switched her target to you. “What about you, Y/N? I’ve seen countless of agents trying to get your attention. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.”

You glanced at her and sighed slightly, “of course I noticed, I’d be blind if I didn’t. It’s just that I don’t care for this sort of stuff.”

“Com’on, you can’t be like this, I’m not gonna let one of my best friends live her life all alone,” Nat tried to reason as you raised your brow at her.

You didn’t reply as you saw a soldier on the phone. Looking to Nat, both of you nodded as you two sneaked up quietly behind him.

When the soldier put down the phone he turned and saw both of you there.

“Hey sailor,” you gave a smile before kicking him hard at the back of his knees hearing a crack as he let out a groan and dropped down. Nat used that moment and pulled out a wire-like rope from her utility belt, twining it around his neck, hearing the sound of him choking.

Nat kicked him and flipped off the railing, dropping down as she shot the other enemies on the way down. You cracked your knuckles and withdrew your claws before running and jumping down as well, you fell past Nat and landed on a soldier, sinking your claws into his back. Moving away in time, Widow landed on the fallen man just as the soldiers below looked up, without hesitating Nat shot both of them. The two of you watched as they fell, not moving.

“Anyways, there’s a new recruit, Daniel, I mean he’s pretty cute,” The redhead continued and you rolled your eyes and walked off.

“STRIKE in position,” you heard Rumlow said through the comms just as quietly landed in an aisle behind a soldier.

“Natasha, Shadow, what’s your status?” Cap asked through the comm. “Status, both of you.”

“Hang on!” Nat shouted as she jumped on the guy and tased him as you ran past her, another soldier running out as he heard the noise.

You grabbed his arm that was holding the gun and twisted it back, hearing the familiar snap sound, making him yowl in pain as he dropped the gun before you kicked him hard in the stomach. You landed in a squat position putting your hand on the ground for support, you swiped your leg to hit his, making him fall backwards and knock his head, leaving him unconscious.

Nat dealt with another enemy soldier that appeared, grabbing his neck area and flipping the man that was probably two times her weight. The guy dropped down as you pressed your comm. “Engine room secure.”

The man slowly tried to get up again but you punched him in the face, and because your bones are made of metal, that blow knocked the man out cold.

“Nice,” Nat commented and you gave her a smile before both of you headed off.

You and Nat split as you went to help the hostages, Nat had told you to go first as she wanted to secure the room one more time, it was definitely a weird request but you’ll get it out from her later, first, you need to help the hostages.

“Natasha, Y/N, Bartoc’s on the move. Circle back to Rumlow and protect the hostages,” Cap instructed.

“Already on it,” you replied, heading to the area as you waited for Widow’s reply.

“Natasha?” Steve called one more time before his comm’s line got cut off.

You straightened up as you heard an explosion go off not long after, you told Rumlow to take care of the rest before you left to investigate what was going on.

Running into a room, you saw that some of the computers were in flames. Looking ahead you saw Steve jumping out of a window and heading to you. He stopped and shook his head before walking away.

“Y/N?”

Your attention was turned when you saw Nat coming out of the window as well, wincing slightly, you rushed to get her before the condition of the flames become worst.

“What happened? Why was Steve so mad?” You asked as the two of you headed to the jet.

She just sighed. “It’s a long story.”


	2. Winter Soldier (part 2)

“Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both school yard and battlefield.” The Smithsonian audio played as you walked to stand beside Steve. You always knew where he would go, sometimes when he kinda misses the past, he’ll come here.

“You must’ve missed being back at the time where all your friends are, huh?” You asked, staring at the video of Bucky.

Steve looked down at you and let out a small sigh. “Yeah.”

Both of you headed to a small theatre showing an interview of Peggy Carter as she was talking about Steve and how he changed the world.

You glanced down at his hands when you heard the sound of him opening something, seeing that it was a compass with her portrait inside. “She’s quite beautiful, isn’t she?”

Steve gave a little smile as he stared at the picture, “she is.”

~

You wandered around the hallways of the VA as Steve went to visit Peggy who was now lying in bed, sick and much older than the video of her you watched just now.

Leaning on the wall beside the room Peggy was at, you waited for Steve. Crossing your arms over your chest, you started thinking. Now looking back, you felt as if you’ve seen Peggy before. It was a very faint feeling but you just can’t remember.

Hearing the door open, you looked to the side to see Steve come out of the room, looking quite emotionless.

“How’s she?” You asked as you pushed yourself from the wall and started walking with him.

“She’s doing well, but her dementia is not getting any better,” he replied, sounding a bit tired and you nodded, heading to go see Sam.

As you two started walking closer to the main hall, you could hear people talking.

“The thing is I think it’s getting worse,” A female veteran spoke from what look like a sharing group as Sam stood at the podium, listening. “A cop pulled me over last week, he thought I was drunk. I swerved to miss a plastic bag. I thought it was an IED.”

“Some stuff you leave there, other stuff you bring back,” Sam started to say, looking at each and every one of the veterans. “It’s our job to figure out how to carry it. Is it gonna be in a big suitcase or in a little man-purse? It’s up to you.”

Sam soon dismissed the group and said goodbye to the woman before walking over to both of you. “Look who it is. The running couple.”

You raised your brow as Steve cleared his throat. “Caught the last few minutes. It’s pretty intense.”

“Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret,” Sam said as he started tidying the books and papers on the table.

“You lose someone?” You questioned, making him look at you before he looked down, shrugging.

“My wingman, Riley,” he opened up and you nodded. “Fly in the night mission. A standard PJ rescue op, nothing we hadn’t done a thousand times before, till RPG knock Riley’s dumb ass out of the sky. Nothing I could do. It was like I was up there just to watch.”

You could hear the sadness and slight anger in his voice. “I’m sorry.”

“After that, I had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?” He continued.

“But you’re happy now, back in the world?” Steve asked.

“Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell yeah,” Sam joked, making a smile slip on your face. “You both thinking about getting out?”

You looked to Steve before shaking your head. “No. I don’t know.”

Steve nodded. “To be honest, I don’t know what I would do with myself if I did.”

“Ultimate fighting?” Sam suggested in a joking manner, making Steve chuckle. “It’s just a great idea off the top of my head. But seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy? This applies to you too, Y/N. What makes you happy?”

You pondered about it for a while, shrugging your shoulders. “I don’t know.”

~

Both you and Sam turned to Steve as he looked up, thinking before looking back at Sam. “I don’t know.”

You quickly ran in the hospital after you heard about the news of what happened in Steve’s apartment. Meeting up with Steve, you watched through the window as they started performing a surgery on the Director.

“Is he gonna make it?” You asked Steve.

“I don’t know,” Steve replied as Nat opened the door and walked into the room, standing on Steve’s other side.

“Tell me about the shooter.” You nodded your head to Nat before turning back to the window.

“He’s fast and strong,” Steve answered. “He had a metal arm.”

Agent Maria Hill came from behind to stand beside you.

“Ballistics?” Nat asked from Maria, not breaking eye contact from the scene in front of her.

“Three slugs. No rifling and completely untraceable,” Maria said.

Nat didn’t react at all as Maria turned to face her. “Soviet made?”

Maria nodded, sounding a bit shock that the redhead knew. “Yeah.”

You stood up straighter as you the machines beeping faster and the doctors rushing to help Nick as they brought the defibrillator.

“Don’t do this me, Nick.” You glanced at Nat as you heard her mutter those words.

You turned away from the scene as Fury was flatlining, hearing the doctors calling out the time. 1:03 A.M.

All of you went into a room where Fury’s body was laying there peacefully. Nat was beside the bed, her arms crossed as you and Steve stood behind watching her.

You never felt close to the Director so you didn’t know what Nat must be feeling but all you could do to honor his death was to find his killer.

Maria walked in and stood beside Steve. “We need to take him.”

You didn’t say anything as you walked forward to join Nat. “Natasha.”

Calling to her, she didn’t reply, instead, she reached her hand out and touched Fury’s head gently before turning and just walking out.

Cap followed her out. “Natasha!”

You followed behind him when Nat suddenly turned behind and looked at Steve. “Why was Fury in your apartment?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Looking at Steve, you could tell he was lying but you didn’t say anything, knowing he would say it when the time was right.

Before Steve could say anything, Rumlow came from behind. “Captain, they want you back at S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Yeah, give me a second,” Steve said, turning back to speak but Rumlow demanded.

“They want you now.”

“Okay,” Cap replied, turning back to Nat again.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Nat spoke before turning around and walking off.

You watched the redhead leave before looking up at Cap and patting his chest. “Yep, that you are.”

~

You walked down the hospital aisle and stopped when you were outside a room, looking in you saw that Steve had backed Natasha in a wall. Knocking on the door, you gained both their attention. “Hi, sorry, am I interrupting something?”

Steve immediately took a few steps back. “No, but we might need your help for something.”

~

You were dressed in a striped hoodie with your hood up as you and Steve walked through the mall, him wearing a pair of glasses and a cap. Nat said she would meet the two of you later as she had some things to do, she and Steve also explained the situation to you before she left.

“First rule of going on the run is, don’t run, walk,” you said as you could see Steve looking all around from the side of your vision.

“If I run in these shoes, they’re gonna fall off,” Steve commented as both of you walked in a Mac store to use one of their laptops.

“The drive has a level six homing program, so as soon as we boot up S.H.I.E.L.D. will know exactly where we are,” you explained as you started typing away on the laptop.

Steve scanned the area again before glancing at you. “How much time do we have?”

“Uh, about nine minutes from,” you started to speak as you took out the flash drive Nat gave you and insert it into the MacBook. “Now.”

“Fury was right about that ship, somebody’s trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands,” you frowned.

“Can you override it?” Steve asked.

“The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me,” you glanced to Steve. “Slightly.”

After a while you decided to give up on this method and try another one. “I’m gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that S.H.I.E.L.D. developed to track hostile malware, so if we can’t read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from.”

Both of you quickly turned to the side when an employee walked towards you. “Can I help you guys with anything?”

Before Steve could say anything, you said the first thing that came into your mind. Putting your arm around his shoulders, you pulled him close and looked at the employee before looking at Steve. “Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations.”

“Right, we’re getting married,” Steve said awkwardly as he gave a wide smile, you turning back to the computer.

“Congratulations,” the employee replied. “Where do you guys thinking about going?”

Steve looked down at the screen to see that the signal trace to somewhere in New Jersey, looking up at the employee soon after. “New Jersey.”

“Oh,” the employee spoke before suddenly going silent for a while, making you glance up at them. The employee’s face having a look of recognition. “I have the same exact glasses.”

“Wow, you two are practically twins,” you said, continuing the scan to find the signal.

The employee laughed, waving his hands over Steve’s body. “Yeah, I wished. Specimen. Uh, if you guys need anything, I’ve been Aaron.”

“Thank you.” Steve nodded, watching as the employee walked away before turning back to you. “You said nine minutes, come on.”

“Shh, relax,” you muttered before a smile came on your face. “Got it.”

Both of you watched the screen zoom in to show the location, Wheaton, NJ. Looking to Steve, you asked, “you know it?”

“I used to. Let’s go,” he replied before pulling the flash drive from the computer, two of you walking out of the store. “Standard tac-team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I’ll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro.”

“Shut up and put your arm around me.” You glanced at him. “Laugh at something I said.”

Steve looked at you confused, not moving to do anything.

“Do it,” you said with a hard voice as he quickly did what you said, his body facing you as he let out a laugh. The agents walking past you, not noticing the two of you at all.

Both of you walked to the escalator, you standing one step below Steve. Looking to the side, you noticed Rumlow coming up the escalator beside the two of you.

You quickly turned and looked up at Cap. “Kiss me.”

“What?” Steve looked shock by your sudden request and you didn’t hesitate to reply.

“Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable.”

“Yes, they do,” he replied, making you roll your eyes as you grabbed the side of his face and pulled him down, his lips meeting yours.

He placed a hand on your waist as you tiptoed slightly to match his height. You pulled apart as you felt that you were reaching the end of the escalator, turning away, you walked down. “You still uncomfortable?”

“It’s not exactly the word I would use,” he replied, making you smirk.

~

The both of you met with Natasha as Cap managed to get a car. You sat behind comfortably as Nat sat in the passenger seat with her legs on the dashboard and Steve in the driver’s one. You filled Nat in with all the information, both of you found.

“Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?” Nat asked, amusement laced in her voice.

“Nazi Germany,” he replied. Nat giving an ‘mm’ sound in acknowledgment.

“And we’re borrowing. Take your feet off the dash,” he scolded and Nat did what he said.

“Alright, I have a question for you, of which you do not have to answer. I feel like if you don’t answer it though, you’re kind of answering it, you know?” Nat started to say, glancing at the rearview mirror to look at you with a small smirk. You knew what she was about to ask because you told her about whatever happened just now when Cap was ‘borrowing’ the car, including the kissing part.

“What?” Cap asked, sounding a bit exasperated at her rambling.

“Was that your first kiss since 1945?” Nat questioned.

Steve looked at the rearview mirror at you. “That bad huh?”

“I didn’t say that,” you defended.

“Well, it kind of sounds like that’s what you told Nat,” Steve answered a small smile on his face.

“No, I was just wondering how much practice you’ve had,” you said, a smile coming on your face as well.

“You don’t need practice,” Steve countered, making it sound as if you said a ridiculous statement.

“Everybody needs practice.” Nat spoke, and you agreed with her.

“It was not my first kiss since 1945. I’m ninety-five, I’m not dead,” Cap said.

“Nobody special?” Nat looked at him and you leaned forward, placing both your arms on either side of their seats, interested in his answer.

Steve scoffed. “Believe it or not, it’s kind of hard to find someone with shared life experiences.”

Nat glanced at you before looking at Steve. “It’s not that hard, but well, that’s alright, you just make something up.”

The redhead knew your real age, only her, Fury and yourself know this fact. You haven’t told Steve yet but you could imagine how shock he’ll be if he knew that you were older than him.

“What, like you?” Steve asked, looking at Nat before looking at you, you watching him with a raised brow.

“I don’t know. The truth is a matter of circumstances, it’s not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I.” Nat replied.

“That’s a tough way to live,” Steve commented.

“It’s a good way not to die, though,” the redhead said with a smile.

You watched as Steve’s face got serious, as he faced the road. “You know, it’s kind of hard to trust someone when you don’t know who that someone really is.”

Natasha looked at him. “Yeah, what do you want me to be?”

“How about a friend?” Steve answered, making Nat laugh softly.

“Well, there’s a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers,” Nat spoke, seriously as you leaned back in your seat, watching as all of you pulled up to an abandoned military base.

“This is it?” Steve asked as you checked the signal on your phone.

You nodded as you kept your phone. “The file came from these coordinates.”

“So did I,” Steve muttered as he stared at a sign that said ‘Camp Lehigh’.

Walking in, all of you looked around as Steve spoke up. “This camp is where I was trained.”

“Changed much?” You questioned as you looked at the field and the abandoned buildings.

“A little,” Steve answered, staring at the field. Nat walking in front to try detect the signal.

“This is a dead end,” Nat spoke, making you turn to look at her. “Zero heat signature, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off.”

You turned to look at Steve, to see that he was eyeing something. “What is it?”

“Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards from the barrack. This building is in the wrong place,” Steve said as you and Nat followed him to said building. He raised his shield and hit it down on the lock, breaking it.

The three of you walked down the stairs, Steve switching the lights on as all of you continued walking further.

“This is S.H.I.E.L.D.” Nat looked straight, seeing S.H.I.E.L.D.’s logo.

“Maybe where it started.” Steve looked around as well.

You opened a door to a room, walking in as the other two followed behind, looking ahead to see a few old portraits. Seeing a few familiar faces. “There’s Stark’s father.”

“Howard,” Steve mumbled.

“Who’s the girl?” Nat asked, referring to Peggy.

Steve didn’t reply as he walked away, stopping soon after to stand in front of big bookshelves.

“If you’re already walking in a secret office,” Steve started to say as he pushes the bookshelves to the side, revealing an elevator. “Why do you need to hide the elevator?”

Nat came forward and used her phone to scan the passcode to take the elevator, before keying in the correct code. The three of you looked at each other as all of you stepped into the lift.

When the doors opened, in front of you was pitch black, none of you could see anything, except you can. With your heightened vision, you could make up the desk with computer screens in front of you. Stepping out, you turned behind to see the elevator doors shut close, walking further down, the lights started turning on.

Looking around at the old technologies, Nat shook her head in disbelieve. “This can’t be the data-point, this technology is ancient.”

Nat looked down at the desk and saw a flash drive port, she took out the flash drive Fury gave Cap and inserted it in. You turned your head to the side when you saw that the flash drive activated all the technology inside here.

“Initiate system?” The computer spoke.

You frowned before moving forward to type. “Y-E-S, yes.” Smiling as the old computer starts to crank up.

“Shall we play a game?” Nat joked, looking to Steve. “It’s from a movie that-”

“Yeah, I know, I saw it,” Steve cut her off, nodding his head.

“Rogers, Steven. Born, 1918,” the computer said with an accented voice, the camera above scanning Steve before moving to Nat. “Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born, 1984.”

Lastly the computer turned to you, making you gulp. “Howlett, Y/N. Born 1886.”

Steve whipped his head to look at you, shocked. “You were born in 1886?”

You didn’t reply as you were too surprised at how this computer knew you name and your last name when even you didn’t know your last name was Howlett.

“How?” You asked softly as Nat frowned.

“It’s some kind of recording.”

“I am not a recording, Fräulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am,” The computer reply, the screen having some kind of green glitch which showed the face of a man and the screen beside showing a portrait.

“Do you know this thing?” Nat asked.

“Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He’s been dead for years,” Cap explained, circling the computer to inspect.

“First correction, I am Swiss,” Zola corrected. “Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body, my mind, however, that was worth saving on two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing in my brain.”

“That’s kinda gross,” you muttered but cleared your throat. “Anyways, how did you get here?”

“Invited,” Zola replied.

“It was an Operation Paperclip after World War II. S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited German scientists with strategic values,” Nat said.

“They thought I could help in their cause. I also helped my own,” Zola spoke as you looked at Steve and Nat.

“HYDRA died with the Red Skull.” Steve shook his head, not believing what Zola said.

Zola suddenly showed a HYDRA sign. “Cut off one head, two more shall take its place.”

“Prove it.” Staring at the computer screen, you crossed your arms.

“Accessing archive.” Suddenly the green glitch was gone and old footage started rolling. “HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize, was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside S.H.I.E.L.D. For seventy years HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed.”

“That’s impossible,” Nat started, sounding surprised. “S.H.I.E.L.D. would have stopped you.”

Zola changed the screen to a news article about Tony Stark’s parents and how they died, before showing a picture of Nick Fury that was stamped with the word ‘deceased’. “Accidents will happen. HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once the purification process is complete, HYDRA’s new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your life; a zero sum.”

Cap suddenly punched the screen, cracking it, but it wasn’t the end. Another screen with the same green glitch appeared. “As I was saying-”

“What’s on this drive?” Steve cut Zola off.

“Project Insight requires Insight. So I wrote an algorithm,” the Scientist replied.

“What kind of algorithm? What does it do?” You asked, your eyes narrowing.

“The answer to your question is fascinating,” Zola started to say, making the hairs on the back of your neck rise, a bad feeling washing upon you. “Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it.”

A metal door suddenly closed shut over the elevator, preventing three of you from escaping. Steve threw his shield trying to at least get it stuck between the doors but it was too late as the shield bounced off the metal doors and straight into his hand.

Natasha’s phone started to cause loud beeping noise as she took it out, staring at it before looking at both of you. “Steve, Y/N, we got a bogey. Short range missile, thirty seconds top.”

“Who fired it?” You asked, frowning.

“S.H.I.E.L.D.” Nat replied dreadfully.

“I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain,” Zola spoke as Nat snatched the flash drive and three of you tried to find shelter. “Admit it, it’s better this way. We are both of us…out of time.”

As Zola said this, Steve ripped open a metal door from a hole and grabbed you as the three of you jumped inside, the missile hitting the area. Steve lifted his shield up and tried to protect both of you as much as he could.

You could see the strain on Steve as he shielded both of you from the falling debris, gritting his teeth. Feeling some of the impact and the debris hit you, you shut your eyes and everything went dark.


	3. Winter Soldier (part 3)

You opened your eyes, as you heard Steve grunting, pushing a large rock away. Squinting your eyes, you tried to clear your vision.

“Are you okay?” You asked as Steve coughed from all the dust.

He nodded as he helped you up from the ground first before turning back and picking an unconscious Natasha. “Let’s get out of here.”

Both of you started walking, pausing as you heard the sounds of aircrafts. You looked to Steve as he nodded, both of you getting out of that place as quick as possible before they shone the lights on the two of you.

~

The three of you walked up the path, you standing in front as you reached out to knock the door.

After about a minute, the binds at the door opened, revealing a confused looking Sam Wilson. He opened the door and looked at the three of you individually with a frown. Which you aren’t really surprised as all of you looked like a mess, with dirt smudged on all your clothes and faces.

“Hey, man,” Sam greeted, looking back at Steve.

“I’m sorry about this,” Steve apologized for the sudden intrusion. “We need a place to lay low.”

“Every one we know is trying to kill us,” Nat said, still looking slightly dazed.

Sam glanced back at forth at the three of you before moving to the side. “Not everyone.”

~

“You two okay?” Steve asked as he came out of the bathroom, wiping his hands.

You sat beside Nat on the bed, squeezing your wet hair dry. “Yeah.”

Steve nodded, looking to Nat. “What’s going on?”

Nat glanced at you as you nodded at her before she turned back to Cap. “When I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D. I thought I was going straight.”

She paused, looking away before looking back to him. “But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA. I thought I knew whose lies I was telling but…I guess I can’t tell the difference anymore.”

“There’s a chance you might be in the wrong business,” Cap said, keeping the mood light.

“I owe you,” Nat said, her voice soft.

Steve shook his head. “It’s okay.”

You looked between the both of them, feeling like it’s their personal conversation. Standing up, you started to walk out but stopped as Steve grabbed your arm, giving you a look to stay put. You sighed, knowing what he wanted to talk about.

“If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, now you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?” Nat asked, her voice serious.

You looked to Nat as Steve stared at her as well, his hand still not letting go of your arm.

“I would now,” Steve said as Nat looked surprised. “And I’m always honest.”

Nat smiled. “Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing.”

Steve took in a breath as he pulled you to sit back beside Nat, the redhead looking at you with an amused look. “Well, I guess I just like to know who I’m fighting.”

It was quiet for a second before Steve then turned to look at you. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were born in 1886?”

Before you could say anything, Sam came in, leaning on the doorway. “I made breakfast. If you guys…eat that sort of thing.”

Sam left the room soon after, Nat patted you on the shoulder before standing up and leaving as well. Steve crossed his arms over his chest and looked at you. “So?”

“So what?”

Steve gave you a pointed look, and you sighed. “God, please don’t talk about my age, I’m old enough to be your freaking mother dammit.”

Cap raised a brow and you waved your hand as if dismissing the subject.

“But why do you look so young?” He asked, frowning. “I don’t think you went under ice like how I did.”

“Even if I wanted to answer you, I can’t,” you replied.

“Why?”

“I-I can’t remember, all I know is that I was born on 20th April 1886 and that my entire bone structure is made by an almost indestructible metal called adamantium,” you explained.

Before Steve could say anything, Nat popped her head in. “Hi, sorry to disturb but breakfast?”

“Coming,” you said as you stood up, Steve following you. Turning to face him, you patted his chest with a smile. “You’re not the only old one here.”

Both of you headed to Sam’s kitchen and took a seat.

“So the question is, who in S.H.I.E.L.D. could launch a domestic missile strike?” Nat asked as she leaned against the kitchen counter.

“Pierce,” Steve said, his voice serious.

“Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world,” you interjected.

“But he’s not working alone.” Steve stared of into the distance as he was thinking. “Zola’s algorithm was on the Lemurian Star.”

“So was Jasper Sitwell,” the redhead added.

You took in a breath as you looked at Steve and Nat. “So, the real question is, how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. officer in broad daylight?”

“The answer is, you don’t,” Sam said as he walked out from somewhere and dropped a file on the table in front of you and Steve.

“What’s this?” Steve asked as he leaned forward.

“Call it a résumé,” Sam replied as you and Steve stood up, Nat coming over to pick up a photo of Sam with his para-rescue team, you and Steve looking at it as well.

“Is this Bakhmala?” Nat questioned before looking up and Sam. “The Khalid Khandil mission, it was you?”

Nat glanced at you two before looking back at Sam. “You two didn’t say he was a para-rescue.”

Steve took the picture from the redhead, seeing the man standing beside Sam in the picture. “Is this Riley?”

“Yeah,” Sam replied softly.

“I heard they couldn’t bring in the choppers because of the RPGs,” Nat said. “What did you use? A stealth chute?”

“No.” Sam stepped forward to pick up the file. “These.”

Steve opened the file and you peered in, raising a brow. “I thought you said you’re a pilot?”

Sam looked at you with a smile as he shook his head. “I never said pilot.”

“I can’t ask you to do this, Sam,” Cap said, shaking his head. “You got out for a good reason.”

“Dude, Captain America needs my help. There’s no better reason to get back in,” Sam replied, making you glance up at Cap with a smirk.

Cap smiled as he nodded, raising the file. “Where can we get our hands on one of these things?”

“The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall,” Sam answered.

Steve looked at Nat who shrugged before looking at you, you shrugging as well. Looking back to Sam, he gave a small smile as he threw down the file. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

~

“Tell me about Zola’s algorithm,” Cap demanded as he pushed Jasper Sitwell to the roof, you and Nat following behind as Cap cornered him to the edge of the building. With Cap’s plan, all of you managed to get Sitwell and you were sure that he’ll definitely talk.

“Never heard of it,” Sitwell replied, his breathing fast as he continued to walk backwards.

“What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?” Steve asked.

“I was throwing up, I get seasick,” Sitwell said, gasping as he nearly fell from the roof, Steve grabbing the lapels of his jacket to prevent him from falling.

“Is this little display meant to insinuate that you’re gonna throw me off the roof?” Sitwell smiled. “Because it’s really not your style, Rogers.”

“You’re right. It’s not,” Steve agreed, letting go of Sitwell and smoothening his sleeves. “It’s hers.”

Steve moved to the side as Nat kicked Sitwell off the roof, you watching him scream as he fell.

Nat turned to Steve. “Oh, wait. What about that girl from accounting, L-Laura…”

“Lilian. Lip piercing, right?” Steve asked, gesturing to his mouth for the lip piercing.

“Yeah, she’s cute,” the redhead smiled.

“Yeah, I’m not ready for that,” Steve said.

You raised a brow at Nat and she shrugged. “What?”

Suddenly, Sitwell’s screams got louder again as Sam in his falcon jet-pack suit with wings flew up, dumping Sitwell on the ground, before landing, his wings folding back. The three of you walked towards him and Sitwell immediately put his hand up as if trying to stop the three of you. “Zola’s algorithm is a program for choosing insight’s targets.”

“What targets?” Steve asked.

“You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who’s a threat to HYDRA,” Sitwell explained, making you frown. “Now, or in the future.”

“In the future? How could it know?” You asked, Sitwell looked at you and started laughing.

“How could it know?” Sitwell said as he stood up. “the 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it.”

Sitwell looked at all your confused faces, before he started explaining. “Your back records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores! Zola’s algorithm evaluates people’s past to predict their future.”

“And what then?” Steve questioned.

Sitwell had a sudden look of realization as he looked away. “Oh, my god. Pierce is gonna kill me.”

“And what then?” Steve demanded as Sam reached out to grab the back of Sitwell’s suit making sure he won’t move away before letting go.

“Then the insight helicarriers scratch people off the list,” Sitwell said. “A few million at a time.”

~

“HYDRA doesn’t like leaks,” Sitwell said as you were seated in the middle of the car, Nat and Sitwell on either sides.

“Then why don’t you try sticking a cork in it?” You grumbled.

Nat shifted to look at Cap. “Insight’s launching in sixteen hours, we’re cutting it a little bit close here.”

“I know. We’ll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly,” Steve replied.

“What? Are you crazy? That is a terrible terrible idea,” Sitwell voiced his disagreements when suddenly all of you heard a thud on the top of the car before the window on Sitwell’s side smashed open, an arm reaching through and pulling him out, throwing him to the next lane where he crashed into an oncoming truck.

You and Nat looked out in shock as the person who threw Sitwell out suddenly started shooting from the top of the car. You quickly pushed Nat to the front where Cap was as she did not have the healing factor that you had before reaching forward and pulling the break handle, watching as the man flew off the roof of the car and landed in the kneeling position, sliding as he used his what looks to be metal arm to stop himself.

All of you stared at him, watching as he slowly stood up and looked at all of you, a mask covering his face.

“Wow,” you muttered as Nat pulled out her gun but dropped it as a jeep smashed into the back of the car, pushing the car forward as Sam tried to steer it. The man with the mask flipped and landed on the top of the car.

Sam pressed down hard on the brakes but the man on top of the car suddenly smashed down, making a hole in the roof as he ripped off the steering wheel.

“Shit!” Sam shouted as Nat finally picked up her gun and started shooting at the roof.

The car started spiraling out of control, and as it was about to land sideways, Steve positioned his shield. “Hang on!”

He broke the door as Nat held him close, Cap grabbing Sam as Sam held your arm and pulled you close. The four of you on the car door sliding on the road.

As the four of you stood, the man with the mask shot at Steve who held his shield up, the impact of the big gun sending him flying. You, Nat and Sam ran off to find shelter from the bullets the HYDRA agents were shooting. You watched Nat run as the agents shoot at her.

You watched as the one in the mask jump down, the other agent hooking on to the car before jumping down as well. Before one of them jumped down, you unsheathed your claws and cut off his wire before grabbing the back of his neck and throwing him to the side where he smashed through a car. “Oops.”

Sam took down another one and managed to get his weapon, you both looked at each other before nodding. You looked down to see Steve using his shield to protect him from the bullets. Walking back a bit, you ran and jumped off the side to the road below, your claws unsheathed as you cut through one of the HYDRA agents. Seeing Cap take down the agent with the machine gun.

Steve looked up at Sam but Sam waved him off as he continued shooting the last one. “Go, I got this!”

You walked toward the last agent, you saw him switch his target from Sam to you.

“Y/N! What are you doing?!” Sam shouted but you just ignored him, gritting your teeth as you felt bullets going through you, it hurt like a bitch but you could hold up. You ran towards the guy and stabbed through him, watching him fall before you with a slight look of horror.

You sighed and looked down at the bullet wounds to see that the wounds were slowly closing up. Glancing up at Sam, you saw his amazed expression and smiled before heading off to find Nat and Steve.

Soon you saw Steve fighting the masked man, glancing around you saw Nat leaning against the side of a car, looking pained. You head towards her. “Nat! Are you alright?”

Nat looked you up and down before frowning. “I should be the one asking you that.”

“It’s nothing,” you replied, removing her hand from the wound to see that she got shot on her left shoulder. You quickly helped her to apply pressure on the wound before standing to see if Cap was okay. Steve flipped the masked man, causing his mask to fall.

The man stood up straight and turned to face Steve, shock written on both your faces.

“Bucky?” Steve said as his mind finally registered who the masked man was.

“Who the hell is Bucky?” The man replied as he raised his gun to shoot Steve but Sam came in time and kicked him.

Bucky was about to shoot again when Nat took a gun and shoot at a car beside him, causing a small explosion. When the smoke cleared, Bucky was gone.

You heard the sound of sirens wailing and saw agents coming out of vans and surrounding all of you.

“Drop the shield, Cap!” Rumlow ordered. “Get on your knees!”

Steve slowly placed his shield down as he held his hands up.

Rumlow pointed a gun at Steve’s head as he came behind Cap and kicked him in the back of his knees. “Down!”

You watched Steve still kneeling there as they seized all of you and dragged you to a van.

~

“It was him,” Steve spoke as all of you were in the van, metal cuffs on all your wrists. “He looked right at me like he didn’t even know me.”

“How’s that even possible? It was, like 70 years ago,” Sam said.

“Zola,” Steve muttered solemnly. “Bucky’s whole unit was captured in ’43. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and-”

“None of that’s your fault, Steve,” you said.

Steve looked away. “Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky.”

Sam looked down at Nat’s shoulder before turning to the guards. “We need to get a doctor here. If we don’t put pressure on that wound, she’s gonna bleed out here in the truck.”

The guard sitting beside Sam suddenly took out an electric rod, making you look at him warily before he turned and zapped the guard beside him, kicking him in the head and knocking him out cold.

All of you looked to the guard in surprise as he reached up and started trying to pull the helmet off. “Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain.”

You felt the corners of your lips tugging up as you heard the familiar woman’s voice. Maria Hill looked at Sam before looking at you and Steve. “Who’s this guy?”

~

The five of you managed to get out and drove to a what seemed like an underground facility.

“GSW. She’s lost at least a pint,” Maria called out as the five of you walked in, you supporting Nat.

“Maybe two,” Sam interjected.

“Let me take her!” A man said, which you probably guessed was the doctor.

“She’ll want to see him first,” Hill replied, making all of you look at her.

Maria took all of you to a room, making all of you stop when you saw who was in the room. There lying on the bed was the Director himself, Nick Fury, lying there with and IV machine hooked up to him.

“About damn time,” Nick said.

~

Nat’s wound was being treated while Fury talked about the injuries he got during the first encounter with Bucky.

“Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver and one hell of a headache,” Fury listed.

“Don’t forget your collapsed lung,” the doctor added.

“Let’s not forget that. Otherwise, I’m good,” Fury acknowledged.

“Oh aren’t you just one healthy fella,” you commented, smirking as you crossed your arms over your chest. Nick giving you a look which you shrugged in return.

“They cut you open, your heart stopped,” Nat said, sounding like she still couldn’t believe that he was there.

“Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress, didn’t work so great for him, but we found use for it,” Fury explained.

“Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?” Steve asked.

“Any attempt on the Director’s life had to look successful,” Hill replied.

“Can’t kill you if you’re already dead,” the Director elaborated. “Besides, I wasn’t sure who to trust.”

You looked to Nat to see her slightly hurt look before sighing and facing Fury, knowing that this was just the start.


	4. Winter Soldier (part 4)

“This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize,” Fury started, raising up a picture of Alexander Pierce, looking at it. “He said, “Peace wasn’t an achievement, it was a responsibility.” See, it’s stuff like this that give me trust issues.”

You raised as brow as you crossed your arms over your chest, watching Fury discard the photo on the table as he leaned forward. You turn to look at Cap. “We have to stop the launch.”

“I don’t think the Council’s accepting my calls anymore,” Fury said as he opened a case, three chips sitting inside. You frowned as Sam took a step forward to look at the chips.

“What’s that?”

“Once the helicarriers reach three thousand feet, they’ll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized,” Maria explained, turning her laptop around to show all of you Project Insight blueprints.

“We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own,” Fury continued the explanation as Maria nodded.

“One or two won’t cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational a whole lot of people are gonna die.”

You stared at the chips before looking up at Fury, letting out a breath as Fury spoke. “We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA. We need to get pass them, insert the server blades, and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what’s left-”

“We’re not salvaging anything,” Steve spoke, cutting Fury off as you looked at him, his brows furrowed. “We’re not just taking down the carriers, Nick, we’re taking down S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D. had nothing to do with it,” Nick defended.

“You gave me this mission, this is how it ends,” Steve said, his voice hard. “S.H.I.E.L.D.’s been compromised, you’ve said so yourself. HYDRA was right under your nose and nobody noticed.”

The Director frowned. “Why do you think we’re meeting in this cave? I noticed.”

Steve nodded. “And how many paid the price before you did?”

Fury was silent, glancing side to side before letting out a sigh, turning to look back at Cap. “Look, I didn’t know about Barnes.”

“Even if you had, would you have told me?” Steve asked. “Or would you have compartmentalized that too? S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, it all goes.”

“He’s right,” Maria spoke up, Fury turning to look at her as she nodded.

Fury frowned as he looked at Nat, his gaze turning to you before he looked at Sam who shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I do what he does, just slower.”

Nick looked to Steve before he glanced to Maria, a wry smile on his face. “Well…looks like you’re giving the orders now, Cap.”

~

You watched as Steve stared into the distance, his mind wandering. You looked at Sam who raised a brow as both of you approached him. Stopping when you were only a few feet away from him, you let out a breath. “He’s gonna be there, y’know?”

“I know,” Steve replied as he continued staring at nothing in particular.

“Look,” Sam started. “Whoever he used to be, the guy he is now, I don’t think he’s the kind you save. He’s the kind you stop.”

Steve let out a soft sigh as he glanced at the two of you before looking back. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

“Well, he might not give you a choice. He doesn’t know you,” Sam said.

Steve nodded before looking at Sam. “He will.”

You watched as he clenched his jaw, looking away before he started walking away. “Gear up. It’s time.”

Frowning, you eyed his attire. “You gonna wear that?”

“No,” Steve said, not breaking his stride as he turned back to look at the two of you. “If you’re gonna fight a war, you got to wear a uniform.”

~

You stood behind Steve as one of the techs opened the door, Maria and Sam on either side of Cap, pointing their guns at the man.

“Excuse us,” Cap said. The tech immediately placed both his hands up and moved out of the way. You gave him a smile and patted him on the shoulder before walking away, feeling slightly bad for the poor man who looked so frightened.

Cap walked over to one of the mics and made sure that it was broadcasted throughout the whole building before he pressed a button and spoke into it. You leaned against one of the panels behind, watching the people around that were looking at the four of you with wariness as you listened to Cap’s speech.

“Attention, all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, this is Steve Rogers. You’ve heard a lot about me over the last few days, some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it’s time you know the truth,” Steve spoke, his voice strong. “S.H.I.E.L.D. is not what we thought it was. It’s been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The STRIKE and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. I don’t know how many more, but I know they’re in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want, absolute control. They shot Nick Fury, and it won’t end there.”

Steve paused for a second before he continued. “If you launch those Helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way, unless we stop them. I know I’m asking a lot but the price of freedom is high, it always has been, and it’s a price I’m willing to pay. And if I’m the only one, then so be it. But I’m willing to bet I’m not.”

“Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?” Sam asked, an amused smile on his face as he stepped forward.

You grinned as you mumbled to yourself in the best Scottish accent you could do. “For freedom!”

Sam and Steve looked at you, clearly hearing you. Steve furrowing his brows as Sam chuckled. “Not your best impression.”

~

“They’re initiating launch,” Maria said through the comms as you, Sam and Steve were running towards the Helicarriers.

“Hey, Cap, how do we know the good guys from the bad guys?” Sam asked.

“If they’re shooting at you, they’re bad,” Steve replied as Sam activated his Falcon suit and flew as you and Steve ran to the edge. You took in a deep breath before jumping down along with Steve, both of you rolling as you reached the ground, before the two of you continued running.

As the two of you headed further, HYDRA agents appeared and started shooting at both of you. You gritted your teeth as you avoided the bullets. One of the agents appeared beside you and you immediately knocked him out, not before taking a grenade from him and tossing it to Cap as he leaned against some cargos, throwing the grenade to where the other agents were.

“Hey, Cap,” you breathed, turning to look at Steve with a smile as he met your gaze. “I think we found those bad guys you were talking about.”

Steve raised a brow before he looked up, you looking up as well to see Sam avoiding all the bullets that were aiming at him. “You okay?”

“Not dead yet,” Sam replied, as you leaned against the cargos beside Steve, peeking over the edge to see if there were any other agents out there.

You nodded to Steve as both of you headed to the Helicarrier, more agents appearing. You sighed as you unsheathed your claws, both of you starting to take on the agents as the two of you tried to get into the Helicarrier.

“Falcon, status?” You heard Maria ask as you slashed one of the agents’ arm, using the back of your other hand and striking it against his temple, effectively knocking him out.

“Engaging,” Sam replied. “Alright, Cap, I’m in.”

“Eight minutes, Cap,” Maria stated as you looked to Cap who nodded as he positioned his shield. You ran towards him and jumped on it, him pushing you up as you leapt towards two agents, stabbing them with your claws as you landed. Cap throwing his shield towards one trying to sneak up behind you, knocking him out before he retrieved his shield and spoke through the comms.

“Working on it.” He opened a metal door, both of you running into the Helicarrier.

Both of you headed to the main core of the Helicarrier, Steve running forward as he started keying in the codes to open the data panel. He placed one of the chips inside, seeing the light turn green before both of you turned to leave and head to the next Helicarrier.

“Alpha locked,” Cap said through the comms.

~

“Hey, Sam, we’re gonna need a ride,” Steve said as both of you ran. You glanced back to see a group of HYDRA agents started lining up to shoot at all of you.

“Roger, let me know when y’all are ready,” he replied.

Steve ran close to you as you sheathed your claws and held onto your waist, both of you jumping off the ledge just as one of the agents shot a missile at the two of you. You shouting through the comms as both of you fell. “We just did!”

You circled one of your arms around Steve’s waist tightly as the other hand held his shoulder, you pressed your face into his other shoulder as both of you fell, the strong wind making you keep your eyes shut.

Opening your eyes slowly, you saw Sam flying down and reaching out, grabbing Steve’s free hand and pulling both of you up, grunting at the weight. He nearly faltered but managed to get both of you onto the last Helicarrier.

You let go of Steve as the three of you touched the ground, starting to walk to the core. Sam looked at both you and Steve. “Y’know, the two of you are a lot heavier than you look.”

“I had a big breakfast,” Cap replied, Sam turning to look at you. You shrugged. “My entire bone structure is made of metal.”

Suddenly, Bucky appeared from the side and pushed Steve off the ledge.

“Steve!” Sam shouted, spreading his Falcon suit as he started to jump but Bucky caught one of his wings and threw him back.

Bucky looked to you but didn’t make any move to approach you, all he did was frown at you, which you frown back in return. Sam pulled out his guns and started shooting at Bucky who flipped to avoid the bullets and quickly took cover.

Sam immediately took this chance to fly and help Steve but Bucky shot something at one of Sam’s wings, pulling down on it, causing Sam to crash on the ground, before ripping one of the wings off. Bucky ran towards Sam and kicked him off the edge as well.

“Shit!” You called out as you ran to the edge before turning to Bucky and unsheathing your claws. Luckily, you could still hear Steve’s and Sam’s voice in the comm, signaling they were still alright. Steve was still on the Helicarrier.

“What are you doing, Soldier?” Bucky looked up at you before glancing down at your claws. You frowned at why he wasn’t attacking you before swinging down your claws at him. Bucky raised his metal arm, sparks flying as metal clashed against metal. He pushed his metal arm forward, making you leap back as he eyed you in confusion before running off.

“Hey!” You called out, starting to give chase before you stopped. Why did he call you soldier?

Shaking your head, you quickly ran off to where you saw him left. You had to stop him before more people get hurt.

You ran in just as you saw Steve trying to put in the chip but Bucky stopped him as he tried to punch Steve with his metal arm but Steve managed to block it with his shield. You gritted your teeth before calling out. “Bucky!”

He didn’t react but Steve did as he glanced at you before continuously trying to avoid Bucky’s attacks. You tried again, but different this time. “Winter!”

Bucky froze as he turned to you, watching you before he saw the glint of Cap’s shield. Bucky turned and grunted as he pushed both of them over the railing. You rushed to the railing seeing Bucky and Steve still fighting, the chip not far from them.

You eyed the chip, planning your next course of action. You watched as Steve managed to retrieve the chip only to drop it again before he kicked Bucky off the plane. You jumped over the railing, before sliding down the plane. While Steve distracts Bucky, you could insert the chip. But before you could get to the chip, Bucky had it. Steve managed to get a lock on Bucky’s normal arm.

“Drop it!” Steve shouted and you knew what he’ll do next, you grimaced as you heard the sound of bones cracking as Bucky cried out in pain. You watched as both of them struggle, Steve locking his arm around Bucky’s throat. You waited until Bucky passed out and drop the chip before quickly retrieving the chip and nodding to Steve before heading back up to place the chip in.

You managed to put it in in time. “Charlie locked.”

“Okay, Shadow, Cap, get out of there,” Maria said as you felt the whole Helicarrier move as Maria made the Helicarriers weapon targets to open and fire upon each other.

“Fire now,” Steve commanded.

You moved to the railing to look down, Seeing that Bucky was now conscious and was fighting Steve. Maria hesitated. “But, Steve-”

“Do it! Do it now!” Steve shouted before turning to look up at you. “Y/N, get out of here!”

You shook your head as you tried to make your way to Steve, struggling slightly as the whole Helicarrier started falling apart. However, as you reached there, Steve wasn’t there anymore, only Bucky who was staring down at a hole. You rushed there, seeing a figure hitting the waters before turning to Bucky. “What are you doing? He’s your best friend.”

Without hesitating, you jumped through the hole and into the water. You were in such a hurry to help Steve that you forgot to take in a sufficient amount of air. You managed to hold on to Steve’s arm but you were so far from the surface, you could feel yourself become weaker as you tried to pull Steve up but suddenly someone was there reaching towards you before you blacked out.

With your healing factor, you woke up to the feeling of someone dragging you out of the water. Coughing, you felt the person let go as you opened your eyes. You looked to the side and saw Steve lying beside you, unconscious. You quickly sat up before looking to the side, your gaze meeting Bucky’s.

He held your gaze before slowly backing away, turning to leave. You quickly stood up, stumbling slightly as you grabbed onto his metal arm, stopping him. “Where are you going?”

Bucky turned to look at you, his expression dazed. “I don’t know.”

You glanced down at his broken arm before looking at him. “We have to get that looked at.”

Bucky glanced down at his arm as well before shaking his head. “Go help him.”

You turned to look at Steve before looking back at Bucky, biting your lip, thinking about what to say before you looked at him sincerely. “I want to help you too, Bucky.”

Bucky looked unsure and surprised before he lightly pulled away from you. You watched as he back away. “Bucky…”

He just shook his head and you sighed. “Will you remember me at least? My name’s Y/N. I’ll find you one day because I need your help but for now, I won’t tell anyone about your disappearance.”

Bucky stared at you and nodded before turning and walking away. You stared at his retreating back before turning to Steve with a frown on your face. You knew that he must’ve known you from somewhere, he might have a connection to your lost memories.

Nat and Sam had managed to locate both of you and send Steve to the hospital, you stayed beside him the whole time, thinking about how you’ve met Bucky before. You really can’t remember. Fury and the rest had asked you about Bucky but you told them that you didn’t know what happened, all you knew that was that you managed to jump off the Helicarrier and found Steve.

You sat beside Sam in the hospital room as Steve laid there in the bed, still unconscious. Sam putting on ‘Trouble Man’ by Marvin Gaye. You sat there in your own world as Sam read a magazine.

Snapping out of your thoughts, you heard Steve speak as he glanced at Sam. “On your left.”

~

“So, you’ve experienced this sort of things before?” You, Steve and Sam turned to face the direction where the voice came from, seeing Fury walk towards the three of you.

“You get used to it,” Steve said.

You watched Fury as he walked to stand in front of his gravestone. You raised a brow, a smirk tugging on your lips at his appearance. Taking in the hood with the black beanie underneath it and sunglasses. “I love your new look.”

“Thank you,” Fury replied before turning to Steve “We’ve been data-mining HYDRA’s files. Looks like a lot of rats didn’t go down with the ship. I’m heading to Europe tonight, wanted to ask if you’d come.”

“There’s something I got to do first,” Steve replied.”

Fury nodded and turned to you and Sam. “What about you Wilson? Y/N?”

“I’m more of a soldier than a spy,” Sam said looking at Steve, Fury turning to you next.

“I’ve got some things to do as well.”

“Alright then.” Nick turned away before shaking all of your hands. “If anyone asks for me, tell them they can find me right here.”

Nick walked away as you heard footsteps coming towards the three of you, seeing Nat walking towards all of you. “You should be honored, that’s about as close as he gets to saying thank you.”

“Not going with him?” Steve asked as the four of you stood closer.

“No,” Nat replied as she shook her head, a smile on her face.

“Not staying here?” You questioned as Nat looked at you.

“I blew all my covers, I gotta go figure out a new one.”

“That might take a while,” Steve said.

“I’m counting on it. That thing you asked for, I called in a few favors from Kiev,” Nat grinned as she handed Steve a file before looking slightly serious and handing you a file as well. “Will you do me a favor? Call that nurse.”

“She’s not a nurse,” Steve commented, looking at the file before smiling at Nat.

“And you’re not a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent,” Nat countered.

Steve raised a brow. “What was her name again?”

“Sharon. She’s nice,” Nat said before turning to you. “And for you, you should totally call Daniel.”

You rolled your eyes. “Again with Daniel?”

Nat grinned as she pulled you in for a hug before turning to Steve and giving him a kiss on the cheek, turning to walk away. “Be careful, Steve. You might not want to pull on that thread.”

Steve opened up the file Nat gave him, seeing a picture of Bucky in a cryogenic capsule with a small picture of how he looked before in the bottom right, his information on the next page. You tightened your hands around the file Nat gave you, a feeling of dread filling your gut. You didn’t want to open it, not yet anyways, you weren’t ready.

“You’re going after him?” Sam asked.

“You don’t have to come with me,” Steve said, as he continued staring at the file.

Sam looked at you and you nodded, Sam looking back to Steve. “So when do we start?”


	5. Winter Soldier (epilogue)

You knocked on the door and waited, shifting your feet nervously, you hoped you had gotten the address right. The door opened and you smiled as the person frowned in confusion.

“You have no idea how long I took to find you,” you breathed out.

Bucky, stepped out and looked left and right before moving away and letting you come in, locking the door behind him. He turned to you as you looked around his small apartment. “How did you find me?”

“It’s very, very, difficult. A lot of tech stuffs but I did it,” you said, turning to look at him. “Don’t worry, I’m the only one who knows that you’re here and I’ve deleted all the records of you being here.”

You had traveled all the way to Bucharest to find Bucky. Ever since Nat gave you the file, you knew you had to find Bucky. It had taken you almost a year but you managed to find him. You walked over to his couch and took a seat on it before looking at him, patting the couch. “Sit down, we have much to discuss.”

Bucky didn’t seem to like the idea of you finding him as he continued standing there, frowning at you. You sighed as you leaned back on the couch, you couldn’t blame him though, it was a pretty small couch and you doubt that he would want to sit so close with someone he wasn’t sure about. “Fine, you can just stand there.”

Bucky was still quiet as he stared at you, you looked to his normal arm, tilting your head to the side before looking back at him. “How’s your arm?”

“Healed,” Bucky simply replied.

“Ookay,” you said, looking away.

“Why are you here?” Bucky asked, making you turn back to look at him.

You eyed him for a while before you gave him a small smile. “To discuss our past.”

Bucky looked surprised. “Why would you discuss your past with me?”

You held out the file that Nat had given you. “I can’t remember my past at all but I know that you were part of it.”

Turning to look at him, you watched as he hesitated before walking closer, taking the file from you to read. You watched as he flipped through the pages, the information of how you were HYDRA’s first soldier or assassin, their first test subject. There was no personal information about you. Even your name was just written as an alias that they had given you, Sabre.

Bucky brought the file down as he looked at you. “You really don’t remember?”

You watched him as he gave it back to you. “I don’t think you remember your past too, do you?”

Bucky didn’t answer. You looked at him in surprise as he sat on the arm of the couch on the other side. “I don’t know much about your time in HYDRA, I just know that you were their first experiment. From what I’ve heard, you were sold into HYDRA.”

You frowned. “Wow, that sounds wonderful.”

“You trained the rest of the Winter Soldiers, including me,” Bucky said, you reeled back in shock, Bucky continuing. “However, one day you seemed to have snapped and went rogue, you escaped.”

“Wait,” you started to say, trying to process what he just told you. “Was that why you didn’t attack me?”

“I thought that you might have still been an ally, but you didn’t seem to recognize me,” Bucky stated. You stared at him, biting your lip before slowly nodding.

“I see.”

The both of you were quiet before Bucky spoke up. “That man, who was he?”

You looked to Bucky, seeing him stare at nothing, his brows furrowed as he looked as if he was trying to remember. You looked away as you stared at the newspapers on the table. “His name is Steven Grant Rogers or Steve Rogers. He went through one of Stark’s experiments and became a super soldier.”

Turning to look at him, your gaze met his. “You are James Buchanan Barnes aka Bucky Barnes. Childhood friends with Steve and a member of an elite group of soldiers formed in World War II named the Howling Commandos.”

“How do you know so much?” Bucky frowned.

“I read,” you replied. Bucky’s frowned dissipated as he seemed to have remembered something.

“It was in the museum,” Bucky said as you nodded.

“You’ve seen it?”

Bucky nodded and you smiled. “So, I guess you pretty much know who you are.”

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

Bucky looked to you. “Do you know anything about your past?”

You sighed as you shook your head. “Nah, not really. All I know is that I was born on 20th April 1886 and that my name is Y/N Howlett.”

Bucky looked taken aback. “1886?”

You let out a breath as you scratched your head. “Yeah, I know. I’m old.”

Bucky raised a brow. “Is that all that you remembered?”

You nodded and Bucky hummed in reply, both of you lapsing into silence again.

“Bucky?” You called out after a while, breaking the silence as Bucky turned to look at you. “Will you ever be Steve’s friend again?”

Bucky looked surprised at the question before looking away. “I don’t know. I’m not even the old Bucky right now.”

“Then just be a new Bucky,” you said.

Bucky turned to you with a frown etched on his face. “Steve would want me to be the old one, the one that remembers him.”

You shrugged before giving Bucky a smile. “He’ll understand, and besides you can slowly start to try and regain your memories.”

Bucky looked skeptical, but your smile didn’t falter as you reached out a hand to him. “I’ll help you, I promise.”

Bucky eyed your hand before looking at you. You moved your hand, gesturing for him to take it. He continued staring at it before he slowly placed his normal hand in yours. You felt your smile widen as you shook his hand, tightening your grip slightly before letting go and standing up, Bucky standing up as well.

“Well then, I think I’ll go back to my hotel first, I’ll come see you tomorrow,” you said as you headed to the door, unlocking it.

Bucky frowned. “How long are you planning to stay in Bucharest?”

“Maybe a week or so, it depends if the team needs me back,” you replied.

“The team?”

“I’ll explain it to you tomorrow,” you said.

Bucky walked towards the door and held it open for you. “Why would you come again? Haven’t you found out what you wanted to know?”

You smiled. “Yes, but I like talking to you.”

Bucky looked surprised and you chuckled before shutting the door. “Goodbye, Bucky.”


End file.
